Housing Solutions Officer (Ukraine Specialist)

Fixed Term until March 2025

No two days the same, making positive change 

Role Snapshot…

Do you want to play a part in the resettlement and integration of Ukrainian citizens? Are you a good communicator with mediation skills? Do you like helping people and working as part of busy team? This role provides an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of newly arrived Ukrainian evacuees and if this appeals to you then read on...

What you could be part of…

An exciting opportunity has arisen at South Norfolk and Broadland Council to be a part of our excellent Housing and Benefits Team. We are seeking a Housing Solution Officer (Ukraine Specialist) to provide a comprehensive, community based housing service to Ukrainian clients accommodated via the Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine Scheme including ongoing support and mediation where necessary.

What you’ll be doing…

• Working in the community to develop and maintain effective relationships with Ukrainian citizens accommodated via the Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine Scheme and their hosts.
• Working with partners to ensure that Homes for Ukraine placements continue to thrive and clients integrate into their communities.
• Mediating between hosts and families where relations break down and there is a risk of homelessness.
• Assisting with re-matching to another host family where placements break down.
• Assisting clients to move on from host families where necessary, helping to access social housing, private rented housing or supported housing as appropriate.  
• Providing advice, guidance and person-centred support to allow clients to navigate the housing and benefits systems on a range of issues including sustainable housing, welfare benefits, debt and money management.
• Preventing and relieving homelessness within the framework of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
• Arranging temporary accommodation when needed.
• Liaising with registered providers, private sector landlords and others to provide housing solutions to clients.

We are looking for…

An empathetic individual with experience in mediation and community engagement. You will be calm, non-judgmental and able to work effectively with people experiencing distress. You will be a great communicator who is driven to make a difference using strong negotiating, influencing and advocacy skills.

You will need…

• 5 GCSE’s A – C, including Maths and English or equivalent, to demonstrate numeracy and literacy.
• A full driving licence.
• An understanding of the barriers and challenges faced by Ukrainian evacuees.
• A good understanding of the legal and regulatory framework underpinning housing and homelessness.

What’s in it for you…

Our package includes:

• 25 days holiday increasing to 28 days after 5 years service plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part time employees).
• Opportunity to work your hours flexibly to improve your work life balance (where operationally possible).
• Employer pension contributions of 15% with the option to make additional voluntary contributions.
• Access to our One Team Rewards scheme including discounts in high street shops and restaurants, employee assistance programme and car lease scheme – with more to come!
• Payroll giving scheme.
• Regular reviews with your line manager, develop a personal development plan, as well as opportunities to undertake training.
• Compassionate leave and sickness entitlement for times of need. 
• Support towards volunteering days in the community and encouragement to be involved with fun activities to raise money for local and national charities.

What’s in it for you…

Why Work For Us?

Do you want to know more about why our staff work for us? Our website has a fantastic why work for us section where our staff tell us what makes working for the Councils so special.

What Flexible and Agile Working Arrangements do we Offer?

The Councils understand the importance of operating a work life balance in the modern world. The Councils operate a flexible working policy and agile working options available for employees where operationally possible.

What Roles Do the Councils Offer?

The Councils operate a vast and diverse number of services for our residents, so with this comes a vast and diverse amount of job roles within the Councils. Our website has a great graphic showing all our job families and roles within the Councils. From here you can plan your career with the Councils or get some ideas on other roles that you may be interested in.

What Benefits do our Employees Receive?

View all our amazing staff benefits on offer for our employees. Our website has a brilliant benefits section allowing you to see the range of discounts, exclusive offers and total rewards our employees receive. Make sure you stop by to find out more information.

What Employer Accreditations do we Hold?

The Councils have a range of employer accreditations that we have worked very hard to achieve. Our website has a full descriptive list of all our current accreditations and what this means for our employees.

What Wellbeing Support do our Staff Have Access to?

The Councils want to ensure all our employees have a safe comfortable place to work, ensuring that employees feel empowered to actively manage their own wellbeing both at work and at home. The Councils have a large wellbeing section available on the website outlining our commitment to the wellbeing of the employees of the Council.

Where are we advertising?

We are advertising internally and externally. 

If external, please apply via our website. If internal, please apply via submitting your expression of interest to the relevant Recruiting Manager; a template for an expression of interest can be found on Connect.

If you any questions about the role, then please don’t hesitate to contact the Recruiting Manager or the HR Team, who will be happy to answer any questions on the role or the Councils.

 

Recruiting Manager: Sandra Thornley   

Email: sandra.thornley@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk

Phone Number: 01603 430484

 

HR Team

Email: hrteam@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk

Phone Number: 01508 533995

 

Closing date: 26 March 2023 at 11:30PM

The Councils reserve the right to close any and all vacancies at any time if there is judged to be a sufficient number of applications received.

Interview date: 31 March 2023

Other Information

 Next steps…

We will contact you via email, after the recruiting manager has shortlisted for the role to advise you of the shortlisting decision. Please note, we do not provide feedback at the application stage.

 For guidance on future applications please see our website: https://www.norfolkjobsdirect.org/southnorfolk/southnorfolk/GenText.aspx?page=Page34

For information on future vacancies, please sign up to our job alerts by clicking ‘get email alerts’ on our jobs page: https://www.norfolkjobsdirect.org/southnorfolk/SearchResults.aspx

 

If you want to learn more about the Councils, then please visit our joint website - South Norfolk and Broadland District Councils Website.

For lots of great information about employee life at the Councils please visit the above linked pages or visit our Jobs and Training Courses website page.

For information on how we use your data and the Councils Data Protection Policy please have a look at the Councils website

 

Please note, we only accept applications submitted through our job’s portal, via Norfolk Jobs Direct: https://www.norfolkjobsdirect.org/southnorfolk/index.aspx

 

We are not accountable for any applications or details published through other job sites.